30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Cardboard Inheritance ≠ College Tuition

A few weeks ago, a guy emailed me about a collection he inherited from his buddy.  He had stumbled across my blog, realized that we lived in the same area, and wondered if I'd be interested in purchasing the collection.

He described it as "a couple thousand cards" from "90, 91, 92" that all "look alike".  I told him that I wasn't really interested and explained that cards companies during that period cranked up the printing presses to meet the demands of collectors... which at the time was probably the hobby's peak.

I offered to meet up and help him evaluate the collection, so we met up at a local card shop.

As expected, there were tons of 1988 to 1992 sports cards.  There were a few decent lowend rookies:  86TT Bo Jackson, 89D Ken Griffey Jr., 88T FB Bo Jackson, and a 89S FB Cris Carter.

To some collector out there, I'm sure it would be worth $25 to $50 to sift through the cards for entertainment purposes.  Unfortunately, I don't have the space or time to sift through anymore collections.

I suggested that he post an ad on Craigslist, but I'm not sure what he'll end up doing.  Before we left the shop, I inquired about a few items that caught my attention:

2002 Nestle #6 Ichiro Suzuki

You know me... can't get enough of food issues, especially when they're of players I collect.


1987 Donruss Opening Day Set

I've always wanted to add this set to my collection.  It features the same card design as the regular base set, but only contained players on the opening day rosters.


1993 Classic Game Pack

I'm assuming these came out of a board game.  I mainly was interested in it, because there was a Tony Gwynn card on the back.  Actually there were three players I actively collect inside the cellophane package:



Plus a handful of other stars...



Finally, I was interested in this September 1992 issue of Allan Kaye's Sports Cards.


Just another magazine filled with cardboard history and these
uncut sheets of cards:



They're not worth anything, but they're nice additions to my uncut sheet collection.  I especially like the oversized Will Clark card.

Anyways... I offered him $5 for the lot and he accepted.  It lightened his load and added a few additions to my collection without hurting my wallet.

Best of luck Juho on selling that collection.  Hopefully, I was able to help you out a little.  If not, maybe some fellow bloggers can help you out...


What's the best way to sell five to ten thousand junk wax era sports cards?

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

12 comments:

Dawgbones said...

I'd pull out a few of the more worthy cards to pop up on eBay, maybe hire out a flea market table (in a bigger area than my home town) then donate the rest to the local children's hospital.

The Lost Collector said...

Definitely at a garage sale, either in a bag/box or in baggies of 25-50 cards.

Skroeker said...

Yep Garage sale packs. Takes a bit more time, but it ensures that you don't sell a gem for cents!

Play at the Plate said...

For that many cards, the best way to make money would be to sell tickets to the bonfire. I'm just sayin'.

Love that Will Clark!

Greg Zakwin said...

Baggies or Craigslist, or not buying/accepting the lot in the first place haha.

jamicfin said...

That Clark is epic!
I'd definitely say a garage sale, I've had to go that route myself...

Anonymous said...

i had a tough time getting rid of some extra 80's and 90's cardboard on ebay and craigs list. ended up dropping it off at one of the local shops and they had it on sale for $5 with no movement for about a month. eventually some little league coach bought it for his team...so i guess it went to a good cause afterall.

Captain Canuck said...

do any recycling centres near you buy by weight???

sg488 said...

On that 1987 Donruss opening day set ,I dont know if you opened it or not ,but you do know if you have the Bonds card with Johnny Ray pictured its worth $$$$.

Zippy Zappy said...

I can think of a few methods like maybe turning them into wallets and then selling them or maybe including them in packages with various other sports cards. Or maybe TTM them and see if anyone's interested in random TTM auto'd cards.

Unknown said...

Donate them. Let someone get those junk wax cards to kids that would love them.

Fuji said...

Great suggestions. I mentioned Craigslist, Goodwill, and donating the cards to a local school. Hopefully, he checks out this post and finds all of your advice useful.